Artist Portfolio
Artist Chippy has illustrated 88 Magic cards through Worldwake, and there's another seven in Rise of the Eldrazi.
Art Description
The first step of the creation of a card's art is its art description. The art description tells the artist what the card will do, what its flavor is, and what the mood of the illustration should be. Here were the instructions given to Chippy for a card designed to wipe out all the small creatures on the board:
Color: Black spell
Action: A scene of epic destruction. The Eldrazi titan Emrakul floats over a forest that contains a large elvish settlement. The titan emits a "sphere of annihilation" -- a powerful field of magic that simply obliterates living things. At the bottom of the frame and in the foreground, we see indications of the devastation -- living things being swept away like dust.
Mood: An entire community and its ecosystem, *obliterated* simply by the presence of the Eldrazi titan.
The next step is for the artist to submit sketches of his or her vision of the art description.
Sketches
Here's Chippy's initial sketch.
Consume the Meek | Sketch by Chippy
The creative team liked the size of the Eldrazi but asked for the destruction to be shown a bit more clearly. Chippy revamped his sketch and turned this in.
Consume the Meek | Sketch by Chippy
Final Art
Consume the Meek | Art by Chippy
Finished Card
And here's what the card itself will look like when you're ripping open Rise of the Eldrazi boosters!
